Rail-joint.



PATENTED APR.18, 1905.

A. H STEVENSON.

RAIL JOINT.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 29,. 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

' v 3Mowoz We dSferenaon No. 787,544. PATENTED APR. 18, 1905. I

A. H. STEVENSON. I

RAIL JOINT.

APPLICATION rum) JULY 29, 1904.

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I $3M WW1 UNITED STATES latented April 18, 1905 PATENT OFFICE.

RAIL-JOINT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 787,544, dated April18, 1905.

. Application filed July 29, 1904:. Serial No. 218,708-

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALFRED H. STEVENSON,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Uhunchula, in the county ofMobile and State of Alabama, have inventednew and useful Improvements inRail-Joints, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to rail-joints.

The principal object of the invention is to avoid the necessity ofperforating the fishplates and rails and of using bolts extendingthrough the fish-plates and rails for holding the joint in assembledposition.

Further objects of the invention are generally to improve and simplifythe construction of rail-joints.

With the foregoing and other minor objects in view, which will appear asthe description proceeds, the invention resides, essentially, in arail-joint comprising a chair having two parallel walls, one of thewalls being formed with internal projectionsand the other wall havingreinforced portions formed with perforations opposite the projections,adjusting screws passing through the perforations, and fish-plates uponopposite sides of the rails, each fish-plate having reinforced portionsformed with depressions, the depressions of one plate receiving theinternal projections and the depressions of the other plate receivingthe adjusting-screws.

The invention also resides in the particular combination and arrangementof parts and in the precise details of construction hereinafterdescribed and claimed as a practical embodiment of the invention.

1n the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Figure1 is a perspective view of a rail-joint constructed in accordance withthe invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof. Fig. 3 is a perspectiveview of the chair. Fig. 4: is a side elevation of one of thefish-plates.

tical section through the rail-joint adjacent to 1 one of theadjusting-screws.

Like reference -nuinerals indicate corresponding parts in the severalviews.

The reference-numeral 1 indicates the base of the chair, which is formedwith side flanges Q to facilitate its application to the sleepers Fig. 5is a transverse verof the road-bed. The chair 1. is formed with twoparallel walls 3 and 4:, the wall 3 being thickened or enlarged at itsupper end, as shown at 4, to increase its strength andhaving internalprojections 5 thereon, and the wall 4: having reinforced portions 6extending upwardly from the base of the chair in order to strengthen thewall 4 against the lateral strain placed thereon. Formed integrally uponeach of the reinforcing portions 6 of the wall 4: is a bearing-nut 7,through which extends an adjusting-screw 8, said adjusting-screwextending also through the reinforcement 6 and wall 4-.

Fish-plates, such as 9, are placed against opposite sides of the rails10 and 11, as usual. Each of the fish-plates 9 is formed with a pair ofinclined flanges 12 and 13, which bear, re-

spectively, against the under side of the head of the rail and againstthe upper side of the base thereof; as shown. Intermediate the inclinedflanges 12and 13 each of the fishplates is formed with a plurality ofreinforcing portions 14, each reinforcing portion being preferably ofpyramidal shape and having therein a depression, such as 15. Thedepressions of one of the fish-plates receive the internal projections 5of the wall 3, .as shown in Fig. 5, and the depressions of the otherfish-plate receive the inner rounded ends of the adjusting-screws 8,whereby the rail ends are clamped securely in position upon the chairwithout the necessity of perforating the fish-plates or rails and ofusing bolts or the like extending through the fish-plates and rails tohold the joint in assembled condition. If-desired, one or both of theupper inclined flanges 12 of the fish-plates may be cut ofl", as shownat '16, in order to prevent said flanges from projecting outwardlybeyond the head of the rail.

In its particular combination and arrangeinternal projections, and theother wall having reinforced portions formed with perforations oppositethe internal projections, adjustingscrews passing through theperforations, and fish-plates upon opposite sides of the rails, eachfish plate having reinforced portions formed with depressions, thedepressions of one fish-plate receiving the internal projections of onewall, and the depressions of the other fish-plate receiving theadjusting-screws of the other Wall.

2. A rail-joint, comprising a chair having side flanges and two parallelwalls, one of the walls being thickened or enlarged at its upper end andhaving internal projections, and the other wall having reinforcedportions extending upwardly from the base of the chair and formed withperforations opposite the internal projections, said reinforced portionshaving integral bearing-nuts thereon, adjustingscrews passing throughthe bearing-nuts; reinforced portions and wall, and fish-plates uponopposite sides of the rails, each fishplate having inclined flanges andpyramidal shaped reinforcing portions located between

